


Chemistry

by SaintLeona



Category: Dragon Age - All Media Types, Dragon Age II
Genre: Best Friends, Epic Friendship, F/M, Friendship/Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-18
Updated: 2015-02-18
Packaged: 2018-03-13 14:47:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,029
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3385727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaintLeona/pseuds/SaintLeona
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Varric is Hawke's best friend, no doubt about it.  The regular patrons of the Hanged Man have always wondered if there was something more going on between them.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Chemistry

Hawke knew she should have been asleep hours ago.  That blasted Deep Roads expedition was setting off just after dawn.  She’d paid good coin to go, and was promised more in return. The trip was guaranteed to be long and punishing, so sleep would have been the best thing.

Instead, she was at the Hanged Man, drinking and dicing.  Drinking, because why not, and dicing, because she had learned long ago that she couldn’t beat Isabela at cards.  Dice, however, was a different matter, as evidenced by the decent pile of coin that was growing in front of her.

As she gathered up her latest winnings, a new player approached the table.  ”Twenty silver to play,” she said without looking up, “otherwise move on.”

Instead of the clink of coins hitting the table, she heard the thud of a full mug.  ”Here you go, Hawke.  Another round of the Hanged Man’s finest.”

Hawke looked up and smiled at Varric.  ”That’s not really saying much, you know.”  She took a swig and made a face.  ”Ugh.  This stuff is swill!”

"Now, now, Hawke," Varric said as he sat across from her.  "Don’t go insulting swill like that.  Besides, I thought the object of tonight was to get as drunk as possible."  He raised his mug to her in a mock salute.

"That’s secondary," she admitted.  "I’m just delaying going back to Gamlen’s."

"Can’t say I blame you there."  They clinked their mugs together and took a long drink.  "You know, I could put in a good word with the landlord, get you a room here."

"Ha!"  She tipped back her drink and let the last of the ale slide down her throat.  "Your great solution is to move from the sewer to the cesspool?"

"Hey!  I happen to live in that cesspool."

"And?"

He paused, then shrugged his shoulders.  ”Okay, it’s a cesspool.  But my end of it is rather nice.”

Hawke nodded in agreement. “That it is.  Tell you what – we’ll trade.  I’ll live here, you can go to Gamlen’s.  Just a warning: Bethany snores.”

"Huh.  Never would have guessed that one.  Sunshine seems too, I don’t know,  _dainty_  for that.”

"Trust me.  She could wake an archdemon and start a whole new blight."  

They sat together for the better part of an hour, drinking and talking, and getting louder at both the longer they sat there.  Hawke’s dice game was all but forgotten.  It wasn’t until she knocked over her ale that Varric figured it would be time to call it a night.

So, naturally, he waved the waitress over to refill their drinks.

Norah approached, shaking her head.  ”Closing time, and you two know it.  And she’s had more than enough.  Take it somewhere else.”

"It’s a vicious lie! I am not drunk!"  Hawke pushed herself to a standing position, never letting go of the table.  "Okay, maybe I’m a little drunk."  She let go, stumbled, and grabbed the back of the chair to keep from falling. "Fine.  Guess it’s time for me to walk home."

She started to head for the exit, but Varric stopped her and pulled her arm over his shoulder. “Not tonight Hawke.  You’re staying here.”

"Don’t have a free room," Norah said, wiping down the table.

Varric scooped Hawke’s pile of coins into his purse, leaving a couple silvers for Norah.  He winked at her, and got a disgusted look in return.  ”She’ll stay with me.  I’ve got plenty of room.”

Norah shrugged. “Suit yourselves.”

They must have looked ridiculous – a dwarf propping up a very intoxicated human woman – but if the few customers left in the tavern noticed, they didn’t care.  He walked her up the stairs and into his spacious suite. “Here we go.”  He deposited her onto the bed and sat next to her. “Best room in the place.”

"Varric, you’re too good to me."

"Save it.  I’ve got a reputation to protect."

She shook her head and grasped his shoulder.  ”No, really.  What would I do without my trusty dwarf?”  

Before he could answer, their eyes locked, and in that moment, something between them  _shifted_.  She leaned in toward him, her eyelids fluttered closed, and she tilted her head. A slight brush of her lips against his was all it took.  His hand cupped her cheek as he leaned into her, her own hand fell from his shoulder to his chest.  He took a chance with parting his lips, and was rewarded with a gentle tongue sliding over them.  

Then, as quickly as it had begun, it was over.  They pulled back at the same time, looked into each other’s eyes again, and Hawke felt herself smile. The feeling came on her unbidden, and there was no way to stop it.  

She laughed out loud.

She covered her mouth with her hand.  ”I’m so sorry!” she said.  ”I don’t mean to laugh!”

To her immense relief, Varric started laughing as well.  ”Don’t be sorry.”

Delighted that he felt the same thing, Hawke stopped trying to stifle her outburst.  In fact, she was laughing so hard that tears were threatening to run down her face.  ”What the hell was that?”

Varric stood.  ”That, my dear Hawke, is what we in the industry call a ‘lack of chemistry.’  Sometimes, the characters just don’t mesh.”

She had managed to calm herself.  ”You’re right.”  She motioned between the two of them with one finger.  ”We would never work.”

"Never," he agreed, and smiled at her.  "Now lie down and get some sleep.  Big day tomorrow."  She obeyed, throwing a blanket over her legs.

"Ah, my trusty dwarf."

"Yeah, I know. Without me, you’d be sleeping in an alley somewhere between here and your uncle’s place."  He pulled an extra pillow and blanket from under the bed and went about concocting a makeshift bed from the biggest chair he owned.

With the pillow under his head, his feet propped up on the table, and the blanket wrapped around himself, he was able to watch as she drifted off to sleep, a small smile playing on her lips.  He glanced in the corner where he kept Bianca and sighed.  ”Maybe in a different story…”


End file.
